A third oil-on-panel version, dated to c. 1856–1858, with a different arrangement of the main three figures, is held by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Three working drawings of the same subject have also survived, perhaps tracings, including one in the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

The Third-Class Carriage evidences Daumier's interest, as also seen in his graphic works, in the lives of working-class Parisians.

Third-class railway carriages were cramped, dirty, open compartments with hard wooden benches, filled with those who could not afford second or first-class tickets.

It is still squared for transfer, possibly from the Walters watercolor or another earlier work, with areas outlined in black.

There are some small differences: the position of the man with the top hat against the window to the left, and the sleeping boy in the centre-right; the central woman with headscarf appears older in the version in Ottawa, whereas the man with blue headcovering to the far right appears younger in the Ottawa version.